Any Major Summer Vol. 1

While most readers of this obscure corner of the Internet are freezing their arses off in their winter climes, we denizens of the southern hemisphere are in the midst of summer. So, for the readers in Australia, South Africa, Brazil (where there are quite a few readers; E aí, tudo certo?) and possibly New Zealand, here is a mix to get us into the summer groove. And for my friends in the North, I hope this mix will warm you up with the idea of summer.

I think I might have three or four good mixes on the theme, so please don’t bombard me with complaints about how I could possibly have omitted this or that tune. The groundrules are that the songs must be about summer or set in summer. “Heatwave” isn’t about summer, so it won’t feature, nor will “Walking On Sunshine”, nor “It’s June In January” (though if you’re in Europe or the US, listening to this ix might create the illusion that it is indeed June in January).

One song that makes no reference to summer but does feature is “Groovin’”; it is inconceivable that the Sunday afternoon on which the groovin’ is taking place falls into any other season but summer.

With one exception, I will follow my usual rule of not duplicating an artist in a series; the exemption here is obvious: I cannot possibly choose only one Beach Boys song. So the Wilson brothers and their pals and cousin will feature on all mixes. The first of these is an anachronistic call by Mike Love to the band to return to the cars, beach and girls tropes of earlier years, released in 1968 (Cousin Mike famously was not a fan of Brian’s innovations)! And often summer is a bit like that: it evokes memories of more innocent, happier times which we cannot hope to recapture; times when the sun shone every day, even if it didn’t.

In case anybody wonders: the version of the War song is the longer LP version; the Style Council’s “Long Hot Summer” is the single version.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-tanned covers. PW in passwords.